Olympic Dreams

In sports, not all the long shots who succeed are athletes. In 1984, Tom Hammond, a forty-year-old sportscaster who had primarily worked in Kentucky and the Southeast, got an unlikely opportunity to appear on the NBC Sports telecast of the inaugural Breeders' Cup. Assigned to report from the stall area on what was supposed to be a single broadcast, Hammond performed so well that an NBC executive offered him a chance to call NFL games on the spot.

Nita, Sharlene, and Billy Joe, all about to turn 80, are tired of waiting their turn for a funeral dinner. They each have a bucket list and are determined to tick off at least a few of the items before they go. So what’s left but to hit the road? They enlist two drivers—Billy Joe’s great-grandson, Ford, who has just gotten out of the Air Force, and Sharlene’s great niece, Joelle, a schoolteacher who has the summer free.

Every summer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Nick Baumgartner went to work pouring concrete, taking on the harsh physical conditions of the construction trade to support his professional snowboarding dreams come winter. To limit travel time while he trained for the Olympics an hour and a half away from home, he lived out of a crusty, old construction van, parked anywhere he could find a spot. And in 2022, after seventeen years of failure—all the crashes, injuries, and personal setbacks—he won Olympic gold at forty years old, becoming the oldest Olympic snowboard medalist in history.

Lis Hartel became paralyzed after contracting polio in 1944. Her dreams of riding horses and competing in the sport of dressage were shattered. After months in the hospital, doctors told her she'd never ride again. Lis tried anyway. But how do you stay on a horse without using your legs? How do you give the subtle cues needed in dressage with limited mobility? With hard work—and an unlikely horse named Jubilee! 

Once upon a time, they taught us to believe. They were the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, a blue-collar bunch led by an unconventional coach, and they engineered perhaps the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. Their "Miracle on Ice" has become a national fairy tale, but the real Cinderella story is even more remarkable. It is a legacy of hope, hard work, and homegrown triumph. It is a chronicle of everyday heroes who just wanted to play hockey happily ever after.

Nine months ago, Amaliya Marcell’s world was rocked when she nearly lost her parents in an accident. In that moment, everything changed, and it was with no small amount of determination that the former ballerina rebuilt her life into something wonderful alongside the man she loves, her pairs ice-skating partner, Tyler. Since he was a child, Tyler Linden has dreamed of Olympic gold. And with Amaliya by his side, he’s confident that his goal is finally within reach. The pair is on track to compete in the Winter Games in Leningrad, but the path to gold turns out to be rougher than they expected

Dreams Do Come True tells the inspirational story of one of Britain's golden girls from London 2012. Great Britain's finest woman rower had one final career target to achieve and, on 3 August 2012, on the water at Eton Dorney, she - and Anna Watkins - beat three other pairs to win the gold in the Women's Double Sculls at the London Olympics. After winning silver in 2000, 2004 and 2008, Katherine Grainger could finally call herself an Olympic champion.

Bloomsbury presents Team Work by Pippa Funnell, read by Beth Easdown. A new title in the Pippa's Pony Tales series, a must-have for any reader who loves horses and ponies. Tilly and her horse, Magic Spirit, are inseparable. Are they closer to achieving their dreams of stardom? Tilly has an...

Growing up in New Jersey as the only African American Muslim at school, Ibtihaj Muhammad always had to find her own way. When she discovered fencing, a sport traditionally reserved for the wealthy, she had to defy expectations and make a place for herself in a sport she grew to love. From...

It’s a tennis story. It’s a family story. It’s a teamwork story. It’s the story of how I got to where and who I am today. I'm only in my mid-twenties, and some might think that's young to write a memoir. But it's important to reflect on every part of the journey, especially the end. The...

Brought to you by Penguin. 'A complete delight' Mia Sheridan, author of Archer's Voice 'A beautiful romance' Lauren Ho, author of Last Tang Standing ----- It’s the Athens 2024 Olympics and Zeke and Olivia are there to win. Zeke Moyo is the star athlete of Team GB. He’s in Athens to claim the...

Bloomsbury presents Parkview Pickle the Show Pony by Pippa Funnell, read by Pippa Funnell and Harrie Dobby. Tilly dreams of having a pony of her own. One that only she can ride to stardom. Will her wishes come true when she joins Silver Shoe Farm Stables? Tilly and Magic Spirit are happy at...

Bloomsbury presents Neptune the Heroic Horse by Pippa Funnell, read by Pippa Funnell and Harrie Dobby. Tilly dreams of having a pony of her own. One that only she can ride to stardom. Will her wishes come true when she joins Silver Shoe Farm Stables? Tilly is on holiday in Cornwall and living...

Bloomsbury presents Solo the Super Star by Pippa Funnell, read by Rosie Jones and Pippa Funnell. Book 6 in a series of heart-warming pony tales packed with expert advice from three-times Olympic medallist and Grand Slam winner, Pippa Funnell, on everything you ever wanted to know about horses...

Bloomsbury presents Red Admiral the Racehorse by Pippa Funnell, read by Rosie Jones and Pippa Funnell. The second in a series of heart-warming pony tales packed with expert advice from three times Olympic medallist and Grand Slam winner, Pippa Funnell, on everything you ever wanted to know about...

Bloomsbury presents Team Training by Pippa Funnell, read by Beth Easdown. A new title in the Pippa's Pony Tales series, a must-have for any reader who loves horses and ponies. Tilly and her horse, Magic Spirit, are inseparable. Are they closer to achieving their dreams of stardom? Tilly, Magic...

Bloomsbury presents Team Magic by Pippa Funnell, read by Beth Easdown. A new title in the Pippa's Pony Tales series, a must-have for any reader who loves horses and ponies. Tilly and her horse, Magic Spirit, are inseparable. Are they closer to achieving their dreams of stardom? Tilly is excited...

Bloomsbury presents Team Spirit by Pippa Funnell, read by Beth Easdown. A new title in the Pippa's Pony Tales series, a must-have for any reader who loves horses and ponies. Tilly and her horse, Magic Spirit, are inseparable. Are they closer to achieving their dreams of stardom? Tilly and Magic...

Bloomsbury presents Magic Spirit the Dream Horse by Pippa Funnell, read by Rosie Jones and Pippa Funnell. The first in a series of heart-warming pony tales packed with expert advice from three-times Olympic Medallist and Grand Slam winner, Pippa Funnell, on everything you ever wanted to know...